On December 30, 2012, Tencent News[1], a Chinese news website owned by China’s largest Internet service company Tencent[2], published a list of China’s 10 most important protesters in the past two years. Although the piece was soon censored on the Tencent News website, the introductory summary went viral on Chinese social media and blogosphere. As soon as a netizen Qian Hao shared[3] [zh] the original piece on Weibo on January 1, 2013, it gathered over 4,653 reposts and 500 comments within a few hours. Netizens applauded the stories.

When they [protesters] have freedom of speech, everyone else would too. We pay tribute to the ordinary people, because we value every ordinary Chinese who has the courage to say “no”. It is worth mentioning, many of which are born after 1990, a new generation who are more conscious of their individual rights. They tend to be more courageous and tend to use the Internet to make their voices heard.

It was followed by a roundup of the top 10 protesters, both individuals and groups who fight for their rights on different issues in Chinese society:

Followed by protests against local authorities over farmland grabbing and corruption in late 2011, residents of Wukan in Guangdong held freely-held elections[6] of their village leaders in February, 2012.

In July 2012, citizens in China’s eastern Qidong city surrounded the local government building to protest against the construction of a pipeline, which would channel wastewater from a Japanese-owned paper mill into the sea. In the end, the local government surrendered and stopped the project.

The Hong Kong government’s plan to make patriotic education compulsory at schools trigged mass protests and strikes among Hong Kong parents and students who consider it “brainwashing”. In the end, the government cancelled the class.

Village official Ren Jianyu was sentenced to two years of “re-education through labour” in August 2011 after he posted messages on microblogs about social issues. Ren’s case triggered a campaign to end the “re-education through labour” system in Chinese social media.

A 15-year-old against unfair chance for education. A screen shot of ChinaForbiddenNews on Youtube.

A 15-year-old girl Zhan Haite has made waves in Chinese media for her campaign on Weibo for the right to take the high school entrance exam in Shanghai, which is currently denied to migrant families in all Chinese cities unless they can obtain a Hukou (residency permit). Her campaign has trigged protests on hukou reform[12] in China.

In March 2010, Yang Zhizhu was fired as a law lecturer in Beijing for having more than one child. His story is not rare in China. But Yang's high-profile protests have spurred debate over whether the one-child policy is needed now that the first generation born under it face the prospect of caring for an ever-increasing number of pensioners.

7) Zhao Keluo: Against the “Grave Clearing” Campaign

Two million graves and tombs across Henan were demolished in 2012 during the “flatten graves to return farmland” campaign. Zhao Keluo had his candidacy for the provincial Standing Committee revoked due to his fight against the campaign. He published a sarcastic “letter of repentance” on his Weibo account apologizing for his criticism of the campaign.

He [Zhao] said “no” to local authorizes, which allows us to see another side of a CPPCC member other than “Hands up”.

8) Wu Heng: Against Toxic Food

Food safety is another issue concerning Chinese citizens in recent years. A graduate student Wu Heng decided to do something about it. He started a food safety blog called “Throw it Out the Window[14]” to track China’s food safety problems. They also use Chinese social media to spread the news. The website has recorded over 190,000 hits since it was launched in June 2011.

9) Luo Yonghao: Against Commercial Domination

In early 2011, Internet popular figure Luo Yonghao tried getting the attention of Siemens via his Weibo when the door of his fridge refused to shut. When the company ignored him, Luo got other angry customers to join him in an action to smash their fridges outside Siemens’ Beijing headquarters.

Because of you, an isolated opponent is not alone. You have been shouting on every corner of the Internet: On the Forums, microblogging and news threads. More and more people heard your voices. You repost, make ironic remarks, or pass by. Most of the time, you say out loud: I object. All of you are protesters against all injustice.

In the end, Tencent hopes that the government will allow different voices to speak out on social matters in 2013.